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49-17 behind only BAMA & LSU . South Carolina is an interesting team. The Gamecocks have the nationís longest home winning streak and a program on the rise on the heels of three straight 11-win seasons, although USC still hasnít won an SEC Championship under Steve Spurrier.http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/201...-5-years-2014/

It's been sort of a bittersweet experience for me: many say that USC has experienced it's greatest success while the SEC-East has been unusually down. I would say that assessment is true to a point: while it's rare that there have been past seasons with all 3 of the Big Three being down simultaneously, there have been many years that 1 or even 2 of them were mediocre (7-9 win seasons), but they always managed to beat us, just the same.

I say, "who cares?" Those 3 teams never bothered over beating USC who usually was down for decades. USC has had many seasons that could - SHOULD - have been better than it's records, but weren't because IMO our teams and community didn't believe in itself. So WHY NOT take advantage of some down years of our top division rivals, if it means establishing a higher standard of competing and winning that can carry over throughout the program for decades afterwards? That's why a lot of those 7-9 win UGA, UF, and UT teams in the past kept beating USC: they did it before, so they believed they could do it again. Back then, USC didn't have that faith. It does now...

But the bitter-sweetness comes in the fact that we haven't taken the fullest advantage and captured a SEC title or two. I'd hate to see UF and UT figure things out and return to being major conference players, and USC still hasn't won the SEC, or at least gotten more opportunities to try for it in Atlanta. The iron is hot - we need to keep striking at it....

I think it's odd that people ("people" meaning our opponents and rivals)
attribute what we've done over the past 3-4 years to other team's
inabilities, rather than our improvement and success. Being beaten on a
somewhat regular basis by a team you once dominated will have the effect
on fans and local sports media personnel. The fact is the SEC East isn't
Down, but there is more Parity throughout the SEC with the exception of
the "Apex" which has been dominated recently by one or two teams. There
are three or four teams in the SEC who used to compete strongly with
each other and lay waste to the rest of the SEC (like Florida, Tennessee,
Bama, UGA ...) NOW, you have Alabama, and LSU pretty much owning the
overall race, but the remainder of the SEC is about equal and can beat
any other team on any given week, with the exception of maybe two/three
programs that have always struggled because of location / school
policies / funding (aka: UK, Vandy, Ole Miss ...). Florida and UT are
suffering through what some call DOWN SEASONS, but in all likelihood,
it may not be a few down years, but more of improvement of several
other teams that they used to run over regularly. Better Facilities, Better
recruiting, better coaching staffs, better funding etc... is causing the
once very wide gap to narrow. The real test now is for the "used to bes"
like USC, MSU, ARK, MISS ... to find a way to compete with LSU, AU,
& BAMA regularly. Tough row to hoe there.

in the years prior to 2009, The conference division titles were won by
teams with records of 8-4 / 9-3 with an occasional 10 or 11 win season.
We won The East in 2010 with a 9 win season, and were within a game
of winning the Conference two or three times since 2000 with sub nine
win seasons. NOW, we've won 11 games three consecutive seasons without
winning the Eastern Conf. That does not say to me "DOWN" in the conference.
That tells me that of the three teams that have won the East since 2010,
it's come down to one head to head game every year, that wins or loses
the Division. OR (in our case), winning those head to head games, but
getting upset somewhere in the schedule at a crucial point in the season.

You don't have "Down" seasons when three / four teams in your own Div.
have more than 10 wins, or you have double digit wins and are watching
the Championship games at home rather than playing in them.

allbarn has a decent football history before the recent coaster ride; therefore, is a part of what some would consider the established programs. Carolina; however, does not have the luxury of a reputable history in football. Thus, if my beloved Gamecock football program had the same coaster ride, it would be considered a "fluke". So, hopefully, by having those three 11 win seasons prior to a national championship, "fluke" will not be part of the conversation. JMO

Losing those road games that cost us the East does leave a bittersweet taste even though we have all those wins. We should have played for the SEC and possibly the BCS title the last 3 years. Last year really stung even finishing 4th. Abandoning the run at Tenn cost us an SEC and BCS title. We could have beaten Auburn and FSU. 2012 we could have beaten Alabama and Notre Dame.

Losing those road games that cost us the East does leave a bittersweet taste even though we have all those wins. We should have played for the SEC and possibly the BCS title the last 3 years. Last year really stung even finishing 4th. Abandoning the run at Tenn cost us an SEC and BCS title. We could have beaten Auburn and FSU. 2012 we could have beaten Alabama and Notre Dame.

its time we went back to the seccg..there comes a time when u just expect more.